How did you finance being a stay at home mom?

My husband and I have quite a few bills (debt) and we are just making ends meet now but I really want to stay home. If you are a stay at home mom, what did you do or cut back on for this to happen? Do you enjoy staying home or regret the decision? Our baby is due in May so I have a little while to figure it out. I'm also a teacher so I will get 3 months off before having to go back to work if that's the case so I really have until August to figure this out, but it can't hurt to start early! :) I really want to be there in the beginning of my son's life..and I'm also concerned about juggling breast feeding w/ teaching! OH and we will have health insurance from my husband's job.

Public Comments

1. I stayed at home for some time then my daughter went to school and i got bored. If finacially you are worried try working from home. Home daycares are always in demand. I loved staying at home with my daughter and wouldn't have it any other way.
2. Well, I'm now a stay at home mother with two children, I just couldn't justify working to pay for childcare. What I'm doing is starting a home daycare business. I'm helping other mother's by providing affordable quality home daycare, which is very rare out there. If things don't take off I can always get a part time job that work with my husbands hours so I don't have to worry about leaving the children. It's important for you to get out of the house and pursue your individual interests, so sign up for a class or join a book club or something ... or you'll go crazy.
3. I have been a stay at home mom for some time now. It is hard at times...(i.e. christmas time, summer, etc) when our food bill goes up, and when there are presents to buy. But we just make sure that we keep all the lights turned off, our thermostat turned down, and other simple things that keep our bills to their lowest. We also don't buy a lot of snack food, or freezer food. We shop at the cheapest stores for groceries and we don't eat out except on rare occasion. Instead of going to the movies, we rent a few. But again, that's on rare occasion. We have four kids, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being a stay at home mom, but there are some days where it feels like i am alone, and I want some company, or some adult conversation. It can get boring. But the positive things that come of it is sooo worth it. As for the debt, we have that also. We just do what we can, and pay as much as we can. People are sometimes willing to work with you as long as you explain the situation and at least try to work something out. Hope this helps!!!
4. i was fortunate to have savings from when i worked pre-baby, and also to have sufficient income from my husband's job. but there are definitely things you can cut back on. do you have two cars? when our finances were tighter right after buying a house, we had one car and the baby and i drove my husband back and forth to public transportation (you could also drive him all the way to work), so we'd keep the car for whatever we needed during the day. you won't need work clothes, so there are big savings on that. there are lots of extras that by themselves don't seem like much but that can also help out. like, do you have cable tv? skip it. if you have a cell phone plan, change it to one with minimal minutes, use your land line for regular calls, and use the cell phone only for emergencies like if the car breaks down. skip the starbucks and make coffee. :-) use freecycle or hand-me-downs from friends to get stuff for the baby. put the family vacations on hold for awhile. etc. also, consider that daycare is very expensive, so there might not be as much of a financial difference between working and staying home as you think. good luck with the baby, who i am sure will thrive whatever you decide to do.
5. One you have to look at the entire picture, what is it going to cost for daycare for an infant in your area? Boom big chunk out of your income. I stayed at home full time until all of the kids were in school we cut corners by eating out twice a month only, made a list before went to the store and bought ONLY what was on it even if that new desert cake loked good. As babies grow so fast anyway I went to resale shops to buy everyday clothes instead of my husband and I giving each other gifts that cost money we instead provided a day of pampering , we kept basic cable and got rid of HBO. You will be surprised at just how much all of that can add up. As a teacher being a stay at home mom doesn't mean you can't earn an income tutor students after school or babysit for cash flow be a substitute where you can go in if you want. Yes we did without fancy cars those years or dining out, material things but it was worth it in the end because now those years are gone, the kids are all older and don't need mom as much but I can say I saw you take your first step, heard you say your first word I didn't have to watch it on video or hear it from a sitter and all the sacrafices were worth it because it allowed a special bond with me and my kids
6. In my case, I paid off debts and reduced my expenses as much as possible before my baby was born so that I could afford to stay home for the first 9-12 months. I couldn't bring myself to leave my daughter even at that age, so I sold my home in California, moved to Idaho, and stayed home for nearly 5 years. I'm a single mom, so it meant living very lean for a while, but I wouldn't trade those early years with my daughter for anything!
7. I'm a stay at home mom, but with my kids being in school I'm able to do a little bit of work for other people while the kids are in school. It's never very much but every little thing helps. Plus a lot of my friends have young children, so when they want date night (or what ever) I watch their kids for them. My husband and I give up a few things, but for us it's worth it.
8. We knew we wanted to have kids but knew that when we first got married we were nowhere near financially able to handle it. We waited about 7 years and saved up money and we were still having trouble. At first I didn't want to stay at home for financial reasons, but a few weeks after I went back to work I stopped by unexpetedly at my daughters day care and was surprised by the lack of attention paid to her (she was asleep, dirty and had a bottle hanging out of her mouth), That day I quit my job to stay home with her. Teaching is a great profession,, but if you really want to stay at home than one thing I would suggest is maybe working from home to earn some extra money. Or you could also start a little daycare type situation where you watch some of your friends kids along with yours. That way your child gets interaction with other kids and you get some extra cash. Thats also a good idea if you plan on going back to work after your kids get older. I love being a stay at home mom because I get to spend so much time with my daughter. I wouldn't change it or anything. Although it was touh at first living on only one income, we sort of got used to it, and now my husband is making over twice what he used to. So just wait and be patient and it will all work out. Hope this helped. And Congrats on the baby!
9. We have a lot of bills...but my hubby makes enough to cover all that...so we never had to cut back. If your hubby's income covers all the bills then you should be good to go. maybe turn off the internet and cut back on house bills. Good LUCk
10. I started a small part time business. I work about 15 hours a week and now make about $25,000k a year. THIS supplements my husband's income and allows me to stay home with my 1 and 3 year old daughters. I know a lot about this topic, I have a lot of good info for you. Many people are looking for work from home companies. All the scams definitely create a big problem but also, there is a problem of people misunderstanding the difference between work from home "jobs" and work from home opportunities. There really are not work from home “jobs”. To get that you have to start working for a company in their offices first, then they MAY allow you to take the job home. Most of the work from home opportunities that are legitimate offers are not an hourly pay type job. They are business opportunities that help you in starting your own business from your home. What you should do first is to decide if you are simply looking for an hourly rate type job or if you are looking for more of an opportunity for additional income such as what you would make in your own business being your own boss from home. Many say a JOB stands for Just Over Broker and I have found that to be true as well. I never got anywhere working for others. Small home businesses have some small costs involved, less then $100 to start is reasonable and I would stay away from those wanting $300, $500 even some asking for $1000. It doesn’t cost that much to start and run a home business so you shouldn’t pay it. The real ones will have a small monthly overhead as well. Should be around $50 a month but no more then $75. And everything should be included from your web sites to training and team support to back office accounting and booking. It’s ok to pay this overhead because it’s a business, they cost money. It’s not reasonable to assume you can run a business from home with a website and more for free so do keep that in mind as you search. If you are coming across places that say free then I would RUN don’t walk the other way! They never are. I tried them many a times and 3 weeks later I had to buy this and 6 weeks later that. After 6 months these “free businesses” had cost me over $800 on average. I’m a stay at home mom of two little girls a 1 year old and a 3 year old. I work about 15-18 hours per week for a National Medical Benefits Company. This is a home business, a nationally known and reputable home business which is what you need to make sure you are looking for. I have been with the company almost a year now and I make over $2000 a month! In your first month, depending on how many hours you can work I have seen people make anywhere from $300 to over $2000. And your income will increase each month because we get paid residual income as well. If I continue on as I am going at the end of the year I will be making $5000 a month. My friend Becky from South Carolina started 2 years before me and she is now making $95,000 a year with her home business. The best part is they have 401(k), direct deposit and a benefits package. In addition, there are no products, no hard selling or pushing, no cold calling, no home parties and no telemarketing! That was VERY important to me. I absolutely love working with them and I can't believe I am making what I am making and in so few hours per week. The neat thing is there are other people on your team that you work with so you are never alone. You have great team support and you get to know the other people on your team pretty well. The support is great but I have made wonderful friends as well. I think that’s important too, especially being at home! I was a bit apprehensive at first because I know a lot of companies are not legit but this company is the number one National Medical Benefits Company in the US. They are a member of the US Chamber of Commerce, The Consumer Health Alliance and the National Association of Dental Plans which is very impressive. Also they were featured in “The New York Times”, “Wall Street Journal” “Time Magazine” and the “American Medical Review”. Even “60 Minutes” with Morley Safer did a big special on this home based business. Even more then all this is they are accepted at over 100,000 retailers nation wide. These are fortune 500 companies like Sears, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Wal-mart, Publix and more. These companies would never work with a company that was any thing less then reputable. That made me feel very good about working with them knowing they were accepted at these stores that I frequent. Also now of course being with them I get the dental and vision benefits for free and I saved over $150 on my last visit to the dentist! That’s just a beautiful perk! : - ) When I first started I just felt very safe with them, that and my friend was already making so much money with Ameriplan. But at this point I feel a sense of security financially that our family has never had before. That plus LOVING what you do? What could be better? Check them out! Just type in www.workathomeplus.net in your web browser. -Amy This answer has been chosen as a “Best Answer” more then 14 times!
11. I am a proud mother of a beautiful girl. I was fortunate enough that before she was born I saved enough to stay home the first 4 months, plus I worked a part time job to earn extra savings. After I went back to work I was laid off permanently. So fortunately I was off another four months again with my daughter. I then found another job, and worked 13 months before being laid off again permanently. I have been unemployed again since August, and am finding it completely impossible to find a job. I now believe that it is my destiny to stay home and raise my little girl. Which I keep thinking to who better than to raise my little girl. I have decided to start an in home daycare to make ends meet. Which isn't a bad source of income, but it also gives my busy little girl a playmates. So this is my story, good luck to you and your husband. Congrats on the new baby!